


Far Cry 3: Hell in Wonderland

by Reaper_of_Roses9119



Category: Far Cry 3
Genre: Betrayal, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Heavy Drug Abuse, Insanity, Slaves, Violence, tribes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-28
Updated: 2015-06-16
Packaged: 2018-04-01 15:06:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 7
Words: 21,424
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4024423
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Reaper_of_Roses9119/pseuds/Reaper_of_Roses9119
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A group of rich friends went on a vacation to Bangkok to celebrate their rich heritage when they are told of an island where freedom could be in the palm of their hands. Tekari Streit wants nothing more than to spend the time with her family, but then it all goes wrong when a group of pirates attack and hold them for ransom. </p>
<p>Tekari is thrown into the middle of a war of insanity and morality once she comes under the wing of the pirate lord, now she faces something she never would have imagined she would have to face with the new influence around her.</p>
<p>Herself.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Tourists

Tekari paced from one end of the yacht to the other, finally accustomed to the constant side-to-side rocking of the boat. Few times it would catch her off guard and forced her to to grasp for the closest somewhat stable object to avoid falling into the warm ocean waters.

As her soft black hair waved in the fresh breeze, the relieving spray of cold seawater strayed from the waves that crashed against the yacht touched her soft skin, leaving a pleasant chill that traveled up and down her arms. She wandered to the booth underneath the top tier, craving a release from the constant burning rays from the sun that was bent on finding every piece of her that wasn't covered with sunscreen or clothes and make it a burning red. With pale skin and blue eyes, she could never be too cautious against the force of the sun.

As she slouched there, leaning a head on a hand lazily and listening to the rolling and splashing of the blue waves, a sudden burst of laughter came from the stairs that led below deck. Two men appeared, Aaron, Tekari's boyfriend. A hat made his light brown hair curve at the ends. He was shirtless, his smooth stomach glistening with sweat and he was wearing only a pair of swim shorts with a smile on his slightly crooked teeth.

Trailing Aaron was Lance, Tekari's 'twin' brother. They look nothing alike now, since Tekari dyed her hair black. She did have soft golden hair like him once, like mom and dad, too. But she didn't want to be or look like them, being her normal rebellious self. She wanted to be an individual... she got that at the cost of two pissed-off parents and a couple of siblings teasing her. Now the only resemblance she has to her family are her eyes.

"Jay!" Lance barked up to the tier on the yacht, where Jay was 'stationed'. Said man stood up from his chair, his long brown hair blew lightly in the breeze. He was at the wheel of the yacht, a pair of sunglasses shielded his chestnut eyes.  
"What?" He barked back, his voice cracking from the heat and lack of use. He spent most of his time today looking around the horizon for any sign of... anything that wasn't rolling waves.

"See anything?" Lance shaded his eyes with his hand as the sun burned ever brighter at its highest peak in the cloudless blue skies.

Jay picked up a pair of binoculars and began to scan the thin line where water met sky like he's done for the thousandth time today, spinning lousily into a 360. Searching for anything that didn't shine against the sun like the relentless waves, glimmering and constantly moving. "Not a damn thing..." He sighed bluntly. "I'll keep us going south-west."

"Alright."

Tekari groaned with frustration. "Lance, it has been three days," she complained, her voice was rough from thirst which she quenched with the remaining alcohol sitting in her glass on the smooth table in front of her, putting her feet up on it casually, the burn of the alcohol making its way to pool in her empty stomach. "We are out of booze and no sign of an island at all!"

"I know, Kari!" Her brother snapped back. "I know!"

"Well, where is it?"

"Kari, shut the hell up! We'll keep going for a little while longer and if nothing comes up then we will turn around and go home!"

Tekari sneered at her brother and crossed her arms while Lance went over and got a fishing rod ready to cast out into the blue waves, shaking his head slightly. Tekari knew he was worried nothing would show up, too, but she just couldn't help but give him shit about. She couldn't believe her brother... smart, all A's Lance, was putting his faith into the drunken, rambling words from a random man at a bar in Bangkok, where they were on a vacation. This man, according to Lance, told him of an island that was way out in the middle of the ocean. The drunk man said it's not on the map and it apparently didn't have any coordinates... either that or he was too intoxicated to remember them. All he said that was location-related was 'South-East' from Taiwan. 

The man said you could do literally anything on the island and, Tekari had to admit, he gave rather enticing details of 'anything'. Cliff diving, hang gliding, hunting rare exotic animals like they were overpopulating and not totally endangered. As much as Tekari had liked the sound of doing anything to her desire... she couldn't come to be able to trust the words of this drunken man... something felt wrong about the whole thing, obviously. She only came along because she liked the thought of a boat trip and she had to get away from society. 

So, here they were. In the middle of the south Pacific Ocean and if there really was an island, it was going to be a two week long vacation while mom and dad were away to Russia on a business trip, making another million bucks on some random business plan or something like that. 

Tekari sighed and thought about the dire situation she and everyone else on the yacht with her was in... they were in the middle of the damn ocean with no more alcohol... supply suddenly ran short the night before, no thanks to Jay.  
Aaron saw her frustration and made his way over to his girlfriend and sat besides her, putting an arm around her slightly burnt shoulders, attempting to cheer up her dwindling good mood. She smiled meekly at his attempt and leaned into him after he had planted a soothing kiss on her cheek. "It'll be okay." He reassured. "Even if we don't find anything, like you said, it'll still have been fun." 

Tekari nodded, a smile on her soft lips; "Yeah it will. I'm happy you came." 

He nodded, laying his head on hers and looked out at the ocean. 

She actually couldn't help but feel like she shouldn't be complaining, the scenery was beautiful despite it being only pure blue as far as the eye can see. They were also still very well supplied with food and it was actually much better then being in the city with all the noises with cars and construction, not to mention being around people. She hated people sometimes. Here, the air was fresh and filled with the sound of waves dancing together and the gentle rocking of the boat that had helped Tekari fall asleep in the last few nights. It was peaceful and she didn't mind it. 

She could appreciate the trip even if there wasn't an island. They would all enjoy themselves in the end... Well, she would, at least. Even if she didn't act like it.

A few minutes filled with waves and an almost sleepy calmness had passed before Sarah came up from the bottom deck. She's Tekari's 16 year old sister and she was still on her phone, to Tekari's dismay. Her eyes dug into the lighted screen and Tekari hated it. Sarah would sit below deck just about all day, texting and texting. She seemed to be oblivious to the fact that she should be spending time with everyone. Hell, Tekari thought she was oblivious to the fact she was on a damn boat in the first place. 

Her short blonde hair whipped around in the breeze a bit, her colorful brand-name clothes, wide brimmed sunglasses and diamond earrings made her look expensive. She sure acted like she was at times.

Tekari's nose crinkled as Sarah sat down across from her, lifting up her sunglasses so that she could see the phone screen in the shade. Tekari sighed out another breath of heated frustration that could compare to the suns relentless rays. "Sarah." She stated calmly, but her patience has never been thick. 

No response. Sarah didn't have headphones in, her eyes were just so entertained by her phone that it made her block out the sound of the world around her. Aaron let out a small chuckle of disbelief.

"Sarah!" Tekari burst, making both Aaron and Sarah jump.

"What?" Sarah growled, equally annoyed.

"Put the damn phone away." The older sibling hissed through her gritted teeth, but she was trying to smile kindly even though she knew it looked ridiculously sarcastic. Sarah didn't need to be on her phone, she could enjoy the time with the family and that's what Tekari told her.

"Why?" Sarah snorted. "We aren't doing anything and I'm bored."

Tekari blew a stream of air from her mouth, making her bangs flow out from its way in a futile attempt to calm herself down. She quickly reached over, grabbed Sarah's phone, and threw it into the water behind her as if the word 'caring' was just gibberish in her vocabulary.

"What the hell!" Sarah screamed, scrambling to look over the side of the yacht as her phone disappeared into the constant mixing water. Aaron tucked his lips into his mouth, trying not to laugh, his green eyes wide as the younger siblings anger flared visibly. 

Tekari shrugged, as if she had no idea what just happened. "I told you to put the damn phone away." She stated bluntly. "You can find something else to entertain you."

Sarah stood up and slammed her hands on the, rather sturdy, table. Lance and Jay looked over, hearing the ruckus Sarah was making from her little 'fit'. Lance quickly shrugged it off and carelessly threw out another cast when he saw it was Sarah. He was beyond used to it.

Sarah, with fury in her blue eyes, yelled; "I hate you!"

Tekari's eyes widened with false concern, not phased by her sister's anger. "Okay." She whispered sarcastically.  
Sarah's mouth gaped open with disbelief as she stomped back angrily to the bottom deck, where she most likely disappeared to her bunk.

Jay stood up with a beer in one hand and his camera in the other, recording everything. "...Damn." He drawled once he was sure that Sarah was out earshot.

Aaron started laughing, making Tekari join with a chuckle. "She's so bratty." She sighed with little disbelief.

"You did the right thing, Kari." Lance complimented, casting another line, which was more than likely going to fail at catching anything like it has all the other times.

"I know." Tekari smirked, like Lance had just given her a compliment.

Jay let out another chuckle and complimented his long-known companion. Tekari and Jay were good friends, so he expected nonetheless from her. Tekari met Jay when they were kids and they've been buddies ever since and when they got older, she joined both her guitar and singing skills with Jay's drumming skills and made a small band. They made a decent amount of money from shows, too and Tekari had a beautiful voice but, no desire to become famous. So, she kept the videos on the internet. She liked it more as a hobby rather than an occupation, anyway. 

It was silent after a while, the boredom nestling back in, reverberating in all of their heads. Lance was still fishing, not caching a thing. Jay had cracked open yet another beer, which was the last of what he had brought and Tekari laid her head on Aaron's shoulder, closing her eyes and feeling the rocking of the yacht. Sarah was most likely crying below deck.  
Tekari's eyebrow twitched. Still, trying to convince herself that what she did to Sarah's phone was right... she couldn't help but feel a tinge of guilt within her. It was at boring moments like this and she herself wouldn't mind having her phone.

There was second where Jay stirred in his seat. He grabbed his binoculars and stared intently into the horizon. "Hey!" He hollered suddenly, excitement made his voice rattle. "I think I see something!"

Everyone glowered at him. "You're drunk Jay." Aaron accused and everyone lost interest almost immediately.

"I could be!" He yelled pretty matter-of-factly. "But, I still think I see something!"

Everyone inwardly groaned and Lance went and climbed onto the tier Jay was on, snatching the binoculars from him angrily and looking in the general direction Jay was pointing to.

After a few tense moments; "Hey, guys... I think I see something, too." A trace of a smile then turned into full happiness. "Hell Yeah! Thats definitely an island. Fucking huge!"

Tekari and Aaron stood up but, they didn't need the binoculars. They could already see the faint outline of an island, a shaded blotch protruding out from the seemingly endless blue water. It looked almost like a mirage, like an oasis in the desert... but, everyone else could see it. It was real and despite the distance, they could already see how huge the island was. It towered and reached up into the blue skies.

"Thats it!" Lance cheered, quickly pulling a small map from his pocket. He found the yacht's coordinates and saw that there wasn't an island anywhere near them on it. This was it, he was positive. Finally, the island... time to do whatever the hell they wanted.


	2. Rook Island

As they drew closer and closer to the island, they could make out more of its features. 

"Its beautiful..." Tekari gasped, in awe with the island as much as the others. Everyone, except for Sarah of course, had gathered at the bow of the boat to watch the island grow closer to their grasp. There was a lush jungle, teeming and thriving with life. The different shades of the green trees masked the vibrant colored undergrowth, and small patches of flowers stood out like flags in reds, yellows and the occasional blue. In the distance behind the jungle, were the slightly blurry outlines of mountains, showing the newcomers that this was not a small place, but yet, had not made its home onto any map they could find. 

"Are those buildings?" Jay pointed out a few hazy gray and brown structures in the sea of green vegetation and among the sun baked sands.

Lance hummed unsurely. "Most likely," He nodded. "I already told you about the Natives, the guy said that they didn't really care if tourists came to the island or not... they just sorta leave you alone."

Tekari clenched her jaw as a knot of worried nerves bundled in her core, she didn't know how sure she was about how they will 'sorta' leave you alone. "I hope so," She mumbled lowly, burying her nerves beneath the relief and joy. "I don't want to deal with hostiles." 

Aaron scoffed and looked at her sternly, but jokingly. "Yeah, you say that as if they are going to be the hostile ones." 

She laughed breathily at him and hugged him around the waist as his arm pulled her to him. Soon, she could make out a small beachside village; rickety docks reached out to the ocean and buildings constructed of both cement, which was broken and withered, and rusted corrugated paneling which was chipped and rusted. Some buildings had tattered blue tarps for makeshift roofing.

There were other boats tied to the railing of the multiple docks that were lined up neatly. Even the boats were rusted and seemed unstable, but they were set up with heavy nets and people loaded and unloaded crates from them, showing they were still trusted to take them out on the dancing ocean. 

Tekari took a moment to admire how even the human construction couldn't destroy the beauty. As a matter of fact, it only made it prettier in a way. The Natives weren't pouring pollution into the air, which was why it smelled so pure. It was untainted by the smog of toxins; instead was filled with the salt freshened scent of the ocean and a calm breeze casted from the jungle, making the waxy leaves shiver in a pleasant hiss.

The sands that seemed to be the outer shell of the green forest were a pale white and rippled like small dunes that mimicked the waters waves. The water was the most clean and deep blue she's ever seen, and the tips of the waves were white with foam as they touched the shore, soaking into the parched sands.

Once they were closer to the docks, Aaron leaped out with the thick rope attached to a small hook on the side of the boat and tied it firmly to the dehydrated pillar of wood coming out of the water that supported the dock. 

Lance joined Aaron and stretched his arms into the air. "We made it!" He almost screamed with victory, looking back at the rest of the group with his forearms resting on top of his head.

Tekari smiled and laughed along with the others. "Woo!" She, at this point, was just happy to finally be on dry land and didn't give a shit if people were looking at her oddly or not, they probably were already.

Jay turned the boat engine off after it was secured tightly to the docks and jumped from the tier, landing on the wooden boards with a heavy thud, which was most likely directed to alert Sarah below deck. He clapped his hands enthusiastically. "Okay," he smiled, filled with determination and a plan on his mind. He sounded as if he was all ready to go, that was the typical Jay fashion, he never ran out of energy. "What's our plan of attack on this bitch?"

Lance chuckled and hopped back onto the boat. "Well, we need to figure out exactly where we're heading." He stretched. "The guy at the bar mentioned something about a place called 'Amanaki Town'. He said there would be some friendly people there who would be willing to take us on a tour. Tell us places of interest and-"

"Aww, fuck that." Jay interrupted impatiently. "Where are all the bars at? I wanna tap some island ass-"

"Shut up, Jay!" Tekari chuckled at her brothers sudden commanding outburst. "Anyways... I'm thinking we can find a map or something, then we can go on our merry little way and find Amanaki Town. Then, we can go on a tour and then Jay can find his magical lover and they can live happily ever after."

Jay stared hard at Lance. "You suck at making plans." 

Tekari and Aaron burst out laughing, while Lance sighed with rising annoyance. "Whatever. We get a map, find the village, and then boom, whatever we want from there."

"Much better, my blonde friend!" Jay finally cheered.

With everyone choosing the 'plan', they got dressed in the most normal clothes they had and headed off into the village, which actually turned out to consist of small shops, selling various goods like fish and exotic things like herbs or fruits that they've never seen before.

Even though they were dressed in semi-normal clothes, nothing too flashy or expensive-looking, they still seemed to stand out from everyone and yes, of course, some people did stare. The 'tourist' look was so much different than everyone else. 

The natives all had tan skin, black or brown hair and torn and stained clothes... and then there was a group of teens with pale skin and blonde hair that stood out like lights in the dark, wearing expensive name-brand clothes in vibrant colors that matched the flowers hidden away in the jungle. The people only stared at them for a moment before deciding they had better things to do.

Tekari gazed around, avoiding eye contact as much as possible, smiling at those whom she did meet eyes with... only a few smiled back. They didn't seem like they were unfriendly, they just weren't... used to being smiled at by random people who enter the island, she guessed. 

Lance went from shop to shop, discovering that the people spoke very good English but their voices were riddled with accents. Some heavier than others but, in the end, it seemed no one had a map or knew of a way to get to the town that Lance was so sure that they should be heading to. 

Tekari huffed out a breath of annoyance as he left yet another shop without any new information. 

Sarah, whom hasn't said anything to anyone since they left the boat, let out an overdramatic, irritated groan. Her eyes were still puffy and red, she must have been bawling. 

Little brat... Tekari thought to herself, letting the back of her mind continue the sentence that seemed so appropriate to her.

"Damn, its hot..." Jay drawled, using the back of his hand to wipe away the beads of sweat that collected on his brow. 

"Yeah it is..." Aaron agreed, taking a greedy sip from a water bottle that was soaked with condensation, passing it to Tekari, which she gratefully took. 

Tekari hummed in agreement a she passed the bottle back. Already, she could feel her throat going dry, despite the chill of the iced water. The rays of heat beat down on her pale skin from the sun that beamed in the infinite blue, cloudless sky... she could already feel it begin to crisp into a flaking burn. 

She had forgotten to put on sunscreen... she was going to pay for that. 

Lance persisted and asked about every single shop and some passerby's until they got to the last building, which was the only one that had a complete and solid wall and ceiling, which were merely chipped cement blocks and a torn tarp. 

Shards of light stabbed into the darkness through small holes in the tarp and the eroded brick walls as they stepped in. This shop was different from the others, product wise... The other shops were selling food-related product, this one, on the other hand, was selling very heavy duty guns that formed black shapes in the dark. 

These guns were put into rows on the walls, not protected by anything. They were out in the open, ready to be taken.

Tekari jumped a little when she realized there was a man at the desk inside, his feet were hiked up on the table and his hands were busy cleaning off a machete with a stained white cloth. He had dark hair, a white t-shirt and a pair of jeans. He knew well of their appearance in his shop, judging by the heavy scowl on his face but, he was intently ignoring them by shining the blade in his grasp. That was unsettling, both the knife he polished with fierce intent and that he was trying to ignore them. Shouldn't he be watching them to make sure they don't take anything?

For a moment, the group hesitated to enter the dark shop; everything was ominous and just downright strange. Especially the man at the desk, almost completely hidden in the shade. Lance glared back at the group who just stared back with wide eyes, and, considering his options, he entered the shop hesitantly. Tekari followed, unable to keep her curiosity contained and wanted to be there if something bad happened. She wanted to hear the conversation, see how this man acted and how her brother would fail to respond and be there to help him... Or watch him struggle, there really wasn't an in-between option when it came to her and her brother.

Once Tekari had stepped through the border where even the light feared to enter the shop, she saw all of the heavy weaponry once hidden in shadows from the outside. This place was rather... open to the public. More so than it should have been. There were even grenades laying in a woven basket, as if they were fruits which you could 'take your pick'. 

"How can I help you?" The man at the desk grunted without moving, his gravelly voice seemed to only make the atmosphere even creepier and Tekari couldn't help but compare it to that one overly-squeaky door in a silent house. He looked up at them and seemed to almost laugh at what he saw. A boy and a girl, dressed in bright colors and looking as clueless as ever. Behind them, were even more. Another girl, younger, and two more boys. That could only mean one thing. 

Tourists.

Tekari stared at him as his chest heaved in a silent sigh, studying him like he studied them. He had some sort of dark tribal tattoo starting from his shoulder all the way down to his elbow. It swirled and twisted into different patterns that made it seem like it was a natural mark, not done by a needle. There were depictions of bears and deer surrounded by inked flowers and curved lines that melded into his dark skin. It was intriguing to her how everything swirled together and yet intimidating by how huge the tattoo was and the thought of the man going through all the pain to get it... It made Tekari want to get a tattoo while she was here, if she could. A permanent souvenir. 

"We ain't open to tourist..." The man finally spoke again, inspecting the clean machete again before placing it down. He then picked up a hunting knife and started to polish that. 

"U-uh, no, we uh..." Lance stuttered awkwardly before pushing himself to finish. "Can you help us get a map, or directions or something?"

The man pulled out a drawer in the desk he sat at and plopped a folded piece of paper on the surface. Lance picked it up, afraid to get his hand close to the man with a polished knife in his grasp. He opened up the crisp paper to see a map with various lines for roads. Tekari was more amused with how huge the island was.

"Umm... would you happen to know how to get to a place called 'Amanaki Town'?" Her brother unintentionally whimpered a little and it made Tekari cross her arms and raise an eyebrow at him, sure, she can understand being nervous but he was overdoing it.

The man suddenly leaned forwards, looking at them with dark, judgmental eyes like a predator peering through a wall of leaves to study its prey before he struck. His eyes were a rich brown and they looked Lance over then looked at Tekari. His gaze lingered longer than she was comfortable with and it made her readjust her arms over her chest. Lance moved in front of her a bit, sensing her discomfort. "You're rich kids, ain't ya?" A frustration, much like Lance's when he couldn't get directions, appeared within his tone. Tekari cringed when she could hear the slight amusement in his voice as he let his eyes wash over her only once more before going back to polishing the knife. 

Lance shrugged and answered; "Yeah, I guess..." 

The man let out another deep, not-so-silent sigh. "Amanaki's attracting more tourist than...." He trailed off, mumbling something. "Anyways, you won't last long. There's a cargo truck that comes here everyday, you just missed it... but, it'll come back tomorrow around noon. You can take that truck to a halfway point, or maybe all the way to the town, I don't know."

Lance smiled and nodded, wanting to leave as quickly as possible. "Thanks."

The man laughed with disbelief; "Good luck..." 

Tekari could hear the sarcasm screaming behind a sly tone.

~~~  
The group spent the rest of their time sitting on the docked boat, feasting on what was left of their stock, which was simply a few bags of chips and sandwiches. They had all decided to stay on the boat, rest up until tomorrow. Then, they would take the truck to Amanaki Town.

Jay had his video camera out again, even though nothing particularly interesting was happening. "We are going to stay another night on this boat," He explained to the camera as if he was talking on the phone, breaking the silence of the shimmering ocean. 

There was a flock of seagulls that flew off noisily in the distance and into the orange sky making Jay stand up and let out a load 'qwaa!' in response before wandering around the deck aimlessly, scuffing his feet. "I think we are all anxious to, uh... go out and do stuff. Transport will be here tomorrow, though... It's just the waiting suspense to want to go out and do something with our lives. Well, I guess finding an unmapped island in the middle of the ocean counts as doing something with your life."

Tekari sighed and put on a thin layer sunscreen, then felt herself lifted abruptly into the air followed by the sudden force of gravity taking hold of her weight. She screamed, then was silenced when water swallowed everything around her, including herself.


	3. Serenity

Tekari's eyes stung as her vision blurred. Warm saltwater snaked into her lungs and burned its way in her nose before she instinctively held her breath, forcing herself up to the surface of the ocean, hacking and coughing with every deep breath. 

She heard shrill laughter coming from the boat and looked up to see Aaron, leaning over the rail and chuckling. 

"Aaron!" She wheezed. "You asshole!" 

Tekari didn't stay mad for long as she heard the force of everyones laughs. She was angry for a moment, but the cool water chilled her fury until it evaporated off of her skin. She waded around up to her stomach in water, it was an escape to the stifling heat of the setting sun, soft sand swirled around her feet like an underwater fog wherever she stepped, making the water turn cloudy.

"Come into the water!" Tekari beckoned over the relentless sound of waves that soothed her burnt shoulders and arms as they rolled up around her body, caressing and massaging her tired muscles. 

Jay quickly stood up, pulled his shirt over his head and leaped into the water, making a big splash before he popped up to the surface, hooting with laughter. He put his sunglasses back on and floated on his back. "That feels fucking nice..." He swore happily, running a hand through his hair to slick it back. Soon Lance, Aaron and even Sarah joined. Everyone splashing around in the liquified sky. 

Tekari wadded to the shore to catch her breath and to try to find shells but, surprisingly, it was all just smooth sand that coated the bottom of her feet. Her hair was wet and sticking together in thin, frizzy locks as she scuffed around her feet in hopes of discovering at least a shard since there were no shells. There wasn't really anything worth keeping. Her eyes continued to scan the sand until she found a tiny somewhat smooth object half buried and under a thin layer of water. She bent down and carefully plucked the object from the sand that concealed it, swishing it around in the water to investigate it and wash it off.

She saw two pointed peaks coming off of it and stared at it, not afraid but, more disturbed... It was a tooth. A molar, from a deer or... from a human? 

She quickly tossed it back into the sand after rolling it around in her palm and swished her hands off in the water with repulsion, reassuring herself that it was just a misplaced piece. Perhaps someone died at sea and their tooth washed up or something... She ignored the thought of how slim those chances would be but, everyone has teeth and yet she still got a bad feel from it. 

Tekari looked at the others to see they were slowly wandering back to shore as the sun was on the verge of sinking into the ocean in the distance, making the waves shimmer like a sea of gold. She smiled with content and they all got onto the boat and started to dry off. 

~~~~  
Later that night, Tekari found herself lying awake. Aaron snored softly next to her with a warm hand on her back, sound asleep. She tried to close her eyes, but to no avail. She eventually just got up and dressed into a pair of sweatpants and tugged a loose hoodie over her head. 

Silently, she exited the bottom deck and went outside into the moonlit darkness of nighttime, cushioning her steps. The little market area on the beach now seemed to be closed and all that was left were a few people standing around and smoking, their cigarettes were tiny red embers in the blanket of night. Only the moon lit the sky, stars hid behind its brightness. 

She hopped up onto the dock and went to sit at the end of it, gently folding her legs up against her chest and resting her chin on her knees. The moon glazed the top of the dancing water into a milky road that spread out over the horizon. The air was much cooler than in the daytime, a breeze was able to make her shiver in the confines of her sweatshirt.

She watched the rippling water, the calming sound of the waves replaced the sounds of people chatting at the market... The noise of boat motors was replaced by nature. Wind whispered to the trees and trees hushed to one another. Tropical birds sung their songs... it was the essence of calm and the definition of peace. The island seemed to be more alive now than in the day. 

Tekari found she was smiling gently when she thought about all that has happened. They finally found the island, turned out the drunk guy, and Lance, were right. Her heart sat heavy with anxiety, she was more than ready to explore this place. If it was nice like this in the nighttime, she couldn't wait to see what it would look like deeper in the jungle under the light of day. 

The more she thought, the heavier her eyelids grew and soon they began to flutter, natures chorus singing her a soothing lullaby and she began thinking how much more she liked the sounds here, rather than the relentless ruckus of the city where people honked their car horns carelessly in the night. 

The smell of the air was a different type of intoxicating here, it was more pleasant than anything. She finally just gave in and laid down on her back, the moon bathing her pale skin in its light and the sound of the waves rolling beneath the dock caressed her and washed away the headache from her burns and all of her worries... her mind became light but, in a good way. Like she was floating and before she could fall asleep, she got back up, struggling a bit since she was on the verge of sleep, and went back to bed. Silently, she curled up next to Aaron's warm body, anxious for the next day to arrive but, not anxious enough to stop her from sleeping.


	4. Pirates

It was only a few hours later when Tekari was able to say she actually woke up to the blaring screams of the alarm clock. The bright streams of the sunlight leaked in through the high-up port window, which was another, more pleasant alarm to wake up. One she preferred more than the shriek of the clock. 

She got up on the first ring and turned it off, allowing Aaron to get the extra sleep while she was going to take the time to do her hair, she was in an exceptionally good mood this morning and could't help but thank the quite alone time she had last night. She picked out a cargo pants, black boots and a black tank top. After she had done her hair, she put on a purple bandanna hair band, avoiding its use by letting her soft short bangs cover one of her deep blue eyes. She even took a little more extra time to do a small amount of makeup, the purple eyeshadow complimented the colors of her eyes nicely and she smiled at how it looked.

Tekari started to repack her stuff, checking to see if she had gotten everything and when she was finished she hauled her bag to the upper deck. As soon as she stepped outside, another hot day greeted her. The sun beamed in the sky with a few thick white clouds, floating pleasantly along with the breeze, but the rays of heat washed her into another burst of happiness she couldn't seem to explain the presence of. 

Tekari was applying a thin layer of sunscreen when she noticed the burns on her shoulders were as bright as they were the night before. They didn't hurt as bad, due to the medication but, they were still unsightly. Even that couldn't drag her spirits down, like it typically would have.

Tekari packed away the sunscreen when the door to the bottom deck opened and Sarah walked out. She wore a pair of tan capris and a green T-shirt with the faded outline of a panda on it. Her hair was pulled back into a tight ponytail and, unlike Tekari, she used the hairband to actually pull her hair back.

"Good morning..." Tekari muttered lightly... she knew she and Sarah were still going to be on thin ice. The older sibling would be more than happy to let it go, but she knew the younger was going to be more stubborn.

"Good morning..." Sarah actually mumbled back. Tekari was a little surprised, usually Sarah would just ignore her if they were in an argument. Especially after what Tekari had done to her phone...

"How did you sleep?" The older sister decided to press further.

Sarah shrugged a little and nodded once. "Okay, I guess... Im just happy we found the island. I have trouble sleeping on the boat."

"Yeah."

It was silent for a few moments. Then, as Tekari was admiring the sky through her dark sunglasses, she felt something wrap around her torso. She looked down to see that Sarah had suddenly hugged her and was laying her ear against her shoulder. 

Tekari awkwardly returned the hug, hands patted the younger siblings back.

"I'm sorry..." Sarah mumbled apologetically into Tekari's shoulder. 

Tekari's eyebrow twitched a bit. She knew what Sarah meant and she was surprised that she was actually... apologizing. That was a new trick she didn't know her sister was capable of learning.

"It's all good, sis." Tekari smiled a little, pleased that Sarah was actually apologizing but, mostly in victory. "It's just, you know... we love you and wanna spend time with you and that's hard for us to do when you sit on your phone all day."

"I know... I'm sorry I said I hated you."

"I know you don't hate me, I'm not offended." They stood there for a few moments longer before separating at the sound of Lance and Jay heading up the steps towards them.

Once Jay's foot hit the deck, he stretched his arms into the clean, open air. "Ah," He sighed loudly, not a touch of tiredness was in his voice. "I feel great."

Aaron came up a second later. He, on the other hand, had dark circles under his eyes and looked rather moody. He was always like that, trying to get extra sleep and looking like he never truly got enough of it in the end.

Lance of course with his busy schedule, wanted everyone up and energized but, he paid no mind to Aaron as long as he was keeping up with the rest of them. "The truck will be here soon." He announced with a glance at the watch on his wrist. "Let's hurry up and head out. We'll get to wherever we're going to stay and then see what we can occupy ourselves with."

"Booze!" Jay cheered, holding up his camera, which was now turned on to record the oncoming day.

Tekari laughed and hit his shoulder, making him stagger a little and laugh. "Like you need anymore!" She giggled when he pushed her back. "I think you're still drunk from two days ago."

"I may be. But, I'm fun when I'm drunk at least." He raised his eyebrows. 

"At least..." She wished it would make him less noisy, but it was alcohol. Not a miracle. Close, though. 

Everyone jumped up onto the dock and started to make their way to the small village, each hauling along their bags. Lance had ensured everyone had gotten their things before leaving in case someone decided to go through and steal their things, despite the fact there was nothing worth taking but empty beer cans and plastic zip-lock bags.

The sound of people talking among the shops, conversing amongst themselves, filled the air again. Along with the sound of boat motors, gulls squawking as they picked up all the small pieces of fish scattered around that they could get to. Tekari smiled when she saw a few kids on the beach, playing around in the cold water. Something about it warmed her heart. All of the kids back home only seemed interested in moping around on their phones all the time... 

"What do you want to do first, Kari?" Jay suddenly asked, pulling her away from her thoughts on home, to her thanks. He kept a walking pace besides her so he could have his camera shoved towards her direction and it made her feel like a temporary star to the video he was creating.

Tekari smiled. "Hmm..." She thought to herself. What did she want to do? Its not like she had much of a choice, she was sure her brother had some sort of agenda. "I just wanna see the jungle... See all the animals and maybe meet some cool people." 

"Ah, just like you, Kari. So social." Jay nudged her a bit with his elbows, laughing.

Tekari chuckled and looked ahead. There was a large truck a the end of the dirt trail through the shops, a canvas top covered the back and people were climbing out of it.

"That must be it..." Lance sighed as he turned to look at everyone. He was, of course, leading the group. "Well, we might be a bit early but, I guess we can just sit around and wait."

Jay put away his camera temporarily. "Yeah. We don't have anything else to do... Lets just make sure we're on the right... you know, transport thingy." He coughed into his elbow once they gotten close to the tailpipe of the truck, which was spewing heavy black smoke.

Lance quickly rounded the corner of the truck to speak to the driver and Tekari tried to act like the smoke wasn't affecting her, but it made her eyes water and the back of her throat tight and scratchy. Sarah just wandered off to escape it.

Aaron came up to her and waved the smoke away from her face with his hand and guided her away from it. She smiled and leaned into him and he wrapped his arms around her as he laid his head on her shoulder, still sleepy. She planted a soft kiss on his temple, which she was sure was making him even more sleepy, because he grunted in protest. 

Eventually, Lance came back and jumped into the back of the truck. "We're all good." He stated and sat down on one of the benches on the sides of the truck. Everyone followed his lead and sat down, the shade of the canvas over the truck casted a relief from the sun but not the heat, which seemed to circulate in it like an oven. Sweat stuck on their skin, creating a false feel of humidity.

Tekari sat all the way to the front and was able to look out a small window which viewed into the drivers seat and the front passenger. The window was covered poorly with a square of chicken wire and she could see a few shards of remaining glass that was trapped in the frame but, past that she was able to see through the windshield and the road ahead. 

Aaron put an arm around Tekari despite how hot it was and Sarah smiled at her as she sat on the opposite bench. 

Lance kicked his feet out, sighing. "I really want to go jet skiing." He looked at Sarah with a wide grin. "That nice ocean..." 

Sarah rolled her eyes. "Riddled with sharks." She deadpanned, but a slight amount of fear behind her tone. Sarah always seemed to have a a slight phobia of sharks and the ocean... she was fine when she was with everyone else, but she didn't do too good with deep water.

"So?" Lance protested. Jay directed his camera at him. "I'll wrestle a shark barehanded." He seemed to second guess himself from the sarcastic tone in his voice, but all the same, punching a fist into his palm for emphasis.

Sarah scoffed and rolled her eyes again, this time out of disbelief of the stupidity of her brother.

Lance was always like that, acting bullheaded. He to exaggerate about everything. Tekari figured he knew he wasn't as tough as he liked to say he was. As Tekari and Lance grew up, they would always fight and sometimes it would get physical, but never serious. 

Tekari, despite how small she was in stature, almost always got the better hand and took him down, twisting his arm behind his back and both of them would start laughing before she got yelled at by dad, who always seemed to favor her brother. Tekari could even say at some points that her dad hated her but, mom always said he was just trying to 'show her what he expects her to be'. Tekari didn't want to be lawyer or anything like that... she was 20 years old and she had no idea what she wanted to be yet. Time was running out and she was out doing stuff like going to mysterious islands... She preferred to live for now rather than later.

Within a few minutes, a middle-age couple entered the truck and then the two Native men climbed into the front seat. The tourists had to brac themselves, since the seats didn't come with any seat belts. Instead, Tekari used her feet and Aaron to hold herself in place. Sarah grasped the bench a little, worried she would slide into Jay, who seemed to care less if he slide across the bench. He was more preoccupied with his camera.

Once they were on the road, it didn't turn out to be as bumpy as Tekari figured it was going to be, so she relaxed her tense body after a bit. She was able to look out of the windshield from where she sat in the back seat and she admired how even the dirt road, which just tore a clearing through thick forest, was not able to destroy how pleasant it looked. The green was still lively and the leaves, waxy and gleaming in the sun, reached out and scraped against the truck as they drove by, begging for admiration of its naturally pure emerald color. The sky was bright and patches of clouds would occasionally cover the sun, leaving the island in a temporary but relieving shade.

Tekari smiled slightly to herself as she looked at her sister, who wore a big smile as she spoke to the others, then looked out the windshield again. She was happy she could make peace with her sister before they had gotten too far into the trip. While she didn't act like it, she hated that they had to argue like that. She still didn't regret throwing her phone into the ocean, though.

Tekari continued looking out the window while the boys chatted and laughed amongst themselves about what they were going to do once the trip really started. The elderly couple smiled gently at each other. 

They were passing through a large opening with little to no trees and the sun beating down on a triangle of green grass and waxy leaves that was at a fork in the road. There was a big slope which lead to a beach at the bottom, where the waves crashed forwards then receded. The truck made a right turn, forcing the ocean to tear away from her vision as the jungle view replaced it. The sides of the road they were driving on had thick trees, bushes and plants. They were going deeper into the island. Tekari imagined, the beauty would only intensify.

The sunlight streamed through the transparent leaves, making the shadows different shades that shimmered on the ground. Wind swirled into the truck, thankfully making it not as hot as it was earlier. The man at the wheel spoke to the other besides him, smiling and laughing. Tekari couldn't understand what he was saying, he spoke another language. Presumably Spanish, since she could pick out a few words. Sarah bursted out with a laugh that made her cheeks red.

Suddenly, a deafening 'boom!' exploded into the air and all Tekari saw was a quick spark of yellow and the sudden wave of shattered glass, flying in all directions. The sound of it rocketing and hitting the metal interior was like heavy rain hitting concrete. Along with the glass was something that felt like the spray of the sea when the waves washed up, but it was warm and thick.

Tekari closed her eyes and used her arms to shield herself, a shriek she wasn't sure was hers or Sarah's. A chorus of yells and curses filled the truck, the surprise of whatever had just happened... and the sudden atmosphere that came with it.

Whatever it was, it was not good.

The truck was now speeding towards the green jungle. The only thing that stopped it was a tree that halted it immediately, more sparks and glass blurred around her. It was such an abrupt stop, that the combined force of Aaron and Lance slamming into her made her smack her head against the metal wall and her vision instantly became fuzzy. She clutched the sides of her head in pain and Aaron pulled her close almost apologetically rather than in concern.

"Tekari!" Sarah suddenly screeched above everyone else. She had her forearms wrapped around the back of her head and her teeth were clenched mercilessly. Tears messed with her makeup, black rivulets down her cheeks. 

It was all a sudden rush. The Native man and woman at the back of the truck got up once the impact had settled a bit and everyone could gain their bearings. 

"Is everyone alright!?" the man asked urgently, glancing around frantically. His voice was shaky and alert.

Tekari couldn't answer, the same could be said for everyone else. They were all too deep in shock. Aaron looked Tekari over in what seemed to be fear and concern. There were red speckles all over her body, some spots were dripping down her pale skin.

"Kari," he snapped urgently. "Are you alright?"

She could only groan with pain as a dull pain throbbed behind her eyes, she clenched them shut and opened them in an attempt to clear her blurred vision. Eventually her head stopped spiraling and the first thing she saw was the front of the truck, which was crumpled like paper around the tree and thick smoke pouring from every crevice. Glass was shattered and sprinkled on the dashboard... as was the crimson blood that was coming from the driver. The other had his head laying back on the seat. The driver had his head on the wheel. His eyes were wide, about as wide as hers. Looking into the nothing that was a lifeless abyss. 

Tekari shook with the fear and sudden realization that they were both dead. 

"Hurry, we need to hurry!" The Native women barked frantically, slightly out of breath and gesturing with her hand quickly to direct the tourist to follow. There was the loud but distant sounds of popping explosions, just invoking a feel of fear. Tekari knew it was gunfire. Something in the back of her mind wanted to deny it, though.

Tekari quickly stood up with Aarons support, the grip on her arm was tight and almost bruising. Jay was on the floor but quickly had recovered as he hopped out of the back. A small stream of blood went down his forehead but he paid no mind as he helped Tekari out. The impact still made her woozy, but she knew that she had to follow the instructions the Native woman was granting them because something was definitely not right here.

Once out of the truck and ankle deep in long thin blades of emerald tinted grass, Tekari ran her hand over her shoulder to feel the slick stinging and looked to see the top patch of her skin had been scratched off, revealing pink flesh. It was most likely caused from hitting the side of the truck when it stopped. It added to the pain of the burn that it was surrounded with. 

An unimaginable fear struck her when she saw that her blood was accompanied by another's. It looked like it was painted on her with a spray bottle, tiny speckles dressing her skin. She could feel it collecting and starting to itch and it made her sick... She tried to wipe it away, but only seemed to make it spread more into thin translucent layers. 

Aaron tugged her along and brought her back to the situation at hand. She looked at the Native woman, who was waiting alongside the man for everyone to get out of the truck. A look of pure worry was on her face, but she, nor the man besides her, had a look of curiosity. They seemed to... know what was happening.

Once Tekari had spotted her, she grabbed Sarah's hand solidly. Pulling her to follow as she went to the woman, who was occupied with herding everyone. Aaron and the others were still in the truck, getting their bags. Jay had hurt his hand and was cradling it, hissing through gritted teeth and Lance had to help him with his things.

The whole time, the relentless 'popping' sound grew loader.

"What the hell is going on?!" Tekari demanded, standing alongside the woman with wide horrified eyes. She held onto Sarah's wrist like a pair of handcuffs.

The Native woman forced her attention to Tekari and started to push her away. "Pirates," she said quickly, fear becoming plausible in her voice, she gasped for air to aid her thumping heart. "Take your sister, to the forest. Go, you-" The woman was silenced abruptly as another load bang screamed into the air. From the woman came a splash of blood and almost all of it went to Tekari, the warm crimson growing more and more abundant as it collected into her clothes.

Sarah screamed, while Tekari was in shock and watched as the woman's body fell limply to the ground and her blood dripped down her face. Tekari's scream got choked up in her throat, while the chanting in the back of her head began; 

'No... no... no...' Her hand raised up a bit, shaking vigorously. 'Wake up!' She wanted to help the limp woman as if there still was a way to help. 

The man cried out presumably the woman's name and ran to her side, leaning over her and grasping desperately at her blood stained shirt. She was breathing just a second ago... she was talking, now nothing. Devoid of everything, permanently. 

Tekari brought a hand to her mouth as the urge to vomit rose in her chest... But, Sarah, who was screaming something that seemed unintelligible, pulled Tekari fiercely until she obliged and followed, snapping back to the reality and to the danger that they were in. They both turned to cross the road, only to have a bright red jeep pull up violently in front of them, skidding to a halt and kicking up a cloud of thick dust and dirt. The jeep didn't have any doors or windows on it, and inside were six men, each one had a piece of red clothing on them, either it be a bandanna, shirt, or a cloth around their arms... and each held a gun in their hands.

"Get the fuck back!" The man closest to them hollered and pointed his gun. Tekari gasped and pulled her sister back forcefully. He had no mercy within his accent-threaded voice and he knew how intimidating he was. 

Tekari went to run the other way, but three more men on four wheelers came from the green wall of forrest. They held guns, too and wore the same colors... it matched the the color of the blood that was apart of almost every object within her sight. 

Sarah was screaming and shrinking into her sisters embrace, beginning to cry and sob, while something in Tekari's head started to pound. That 'something' started to grow more and more as the men approached closer and she gritted her teeth. She assumed it to be fear, or the anger at the fact that she couldn't run when the urge to do so was so powerful. She frantically glanced over at the others, they were being separated by the pirates, holding their hands up and getting to their knees. 

When Tekari looked back in front of her, one of them had gotten close and ripped Sarah from her grip. She tried to recover her panicking sister, but was shoved away violently and fell to the dirt. Another one swiped her with the end of his solid metal gun. Everything blurred and all she could see were feet shuffling in the dirt and grass around her. Sarah's yell, the Pirates orders and laughter... sickening laughter, echoed in her mind, before the darkness had taken her.


	5. Prisoners

The world spun carefully, yet without mercy, as Tekari tried uselessly to shake away the haziness, but that only made it worse... She was trying to piece together her memory, at first giving up when it refused to return, but she kept persisting. 

She was a tourist... flashes of blood, gunfire and death. 

Her mind snapped awake but her body would not allow it. Everything was blurry, and the voices were echoing off if the walls of her eardrums.

Voices... someone was talking.

He was speaking frantically, laughing harshly on occasion and thats when she realized there were three. Slowly her mind grew more aware of where she was. All she saw was her body and a poorly made floor of wood. Through the splits between the boards, she could see the dark dirt beneath along with bits of white which she assumed to be trash.   
She struggled a little and discovered her hands were tied above her head, and by the jingling sound that came when she moved a little she could tell she was tied with thick chains.

She groaned in pain, due to the little effort she used to move her hands a bit. A cloth was tightly pulling her cheeks back into a forceful smile... stifling her speech, impairing her sobs of fear and pain. Despite how much it hurt, she held her tears so she could look around... It was bright out, the heat of the day making her sweat, but she couldn't feel the heat of the sun directly on her skin, making her assume she was under a canopy of some sort.

She didn't know where she was, which added to her confusion and the memory of the murder she witnessed before her, so simply acted, so simply done- it scared her what would happen. What did the woman say?

Pirates.

What were they going to do? Kill them, that was the first thing that plagued her groggy mind... but why haven't they done that already? or perhaps they have, and she was trapped in the grasp of hell... no, she was alive. The nagging pain in her muscles was too dull for her to be in hell. 

As her vision slowly returned and wasn't so blurry, she found her gaze wandering. Sarah was at her side, still asleep and tied in the same manner as she, hanging from a wooden beam. She had a bruise on her temple, but it wasn't anything too major. Tekari assumed it was from the pirates, when they knocked them out. The memory itself, the end of the gun hitting the side of her head, made a harsh throbbing pain return to her temple. 

Suddenly, someone very close to her started to yell. It was so load and fierce, it made her fear spiral up again and she quickly returned her gaze back to the wood floors, feigning sleep as the dull pain in her temple dissipated. She couldn't make out what he was saying, until the voice hissed lowly but viciously. "You're not even worth a bullet." There was a moment of silence and the sound of metal on metal being clicked together.

"No, please-" 

A deafening boom exploded into the room, shrill and quick. It made Tekari flinch and close her eyes tighter. She, surprisingly, was successful at holding in a shriek that would have given her away as being awake. Not a second later, a man had fallen to the floor at her feet with a heavy, limp 'thud', making Tekari's heart stop when she saw he had a hole blasted straight into his temple, leaving blood to pour from it and down to the boards and through the spaces between them and onto the dark dirt below. His eyes seemed to stare at her, frozen in his last seconds of life, eyes wide with horror. 

Tekari stared back with the same expression, frozen with fear and unable to tear her eyes away.

The heavy sigh of a man was heard and something spoken in a different language quite leisurely. "Clean this shit up, hermano. I'm gonna chill for a bit..." The voice commanded. "And see if those two putas are fucking awake yet." Tekari immediately closed her eyes and went limp, her head hanging, her dark hair forming a translucent curtain around her face. 

She could hear the body being dragged away as a hand suddenly shot out and gripped her hair, lifitng her head up. The roots aching and weaving with his fingers, defining each clenched knuckle against her scalp. Her eyes remained closed, the darkness shielded her from meeting the eyes of the pirate that turned her face this way and that. Abruptly, there was a tapping on the center of her eyelid, making her flinch and clench her lids angrily. She thought she gave away that she was awake, but then her head was dropped, putting a sudden stress on her neck.

"That ones getting there." The pirate in front of her grunted. Once she was sure the attention was off of her, she opened an eye to peek at what the pirate was doing.

His attention was on Sarah now, and his green bandana covered his mouth, but it couldn't hide the smug grin Tekari knew was hidden beneath. "Blondes have always gotten a good price, huh?" He drawled, a chuckle leaving him.  
Sarah turned her face to the side, making Tekari realize her sister was very well awake.

The man let out another laugh before his hand grabbed her chin. Like he had down to Tekari, he turned it this way and that, studying every detail like he's done it a thousand times before. "Hell, I might buy this one."

An angry groan from another man was heard on the other side of her, but Tekari's eyes were fixed on the pirate who studied her sister. "Then, I get dibs on the other one." She heard another man say and her blood boiled even more.  
"We don't have the okay, yet. We gotta get the ransom." The third voice mumbled lowly.

Ransom? Oh, no... 

Tekari heard Sarah let out a sobbing squeak as the Pirate in front of her ran a hand on her cheek, then to her neck, as if he was making to choke her, but then continuing a path to her collarbone.

Tekari's pupils dilated as the seething in her blood became too much to handle. She didn't think about the fact she may get shot. As a matter of fact, nothing passed through her thoughts. All she had on her mind was to get him away from her sobbing sister. 

Tekari, with a ridiculous amount of speed and force only adrenaline could make her possess, used the chains that held her arms above her head, to lift her body up and plant a solid kick to the pirates ribs. He stumbled and flew a good few feet, screaming out a 'Hey!' as if that was going to stop her. 

Tekari's mind smiled with joy when she realized she heard a small crack and knew it was the pirates ribs. She kicked as hard as she could and would be more surprised if it didn't break at least two.

The smile quickly went away when she remembered there were men on the other side of her too, and she quickly turned her head to look. One was already heading towards her and it was like her body moved on its own, her mind took hold and all conscience was lost but not gone. 

She swiped a foot at his knee, making him trip and land on his stomach, and she took that as a chance to give a blunt stomp to his cheek when he lifted his head looked up at her. Her heel crushed against his teeth and he grunted with surprise and pain, spitting blood onto the floor boards. 

Tekari, with anger still in her blood, was going to stomp on his stomach again, but then a load 'Bang!' stopped her and made her jump, snapping her back from the rage that suddenly took hold of her. The fear chased away the rage, but she still felt rather brave. Brave or accomplished, one of the two but, for a moment, she thought she was shot. Then, after feeling no pain, she looked up to see a man was striding over to her rather calmly.

This time, her heart did stop, but only to start a relentless pounding that felt like something trying to break from her ribs like everything was trying to run in fear. 

Something about the way he walked, or more glided to her, made her nervous. She dare not meet his eyes but instead looked at his collarbone. He had a pure red tank top on with a utility belt strapped across his chest and around his muscled neck was a bundle of necklaces. One was what looked to be thin black rope and another just a red piece of cloth in a thin strip. The last one circled his neck loosely and was coated with a plastic, making the chain thick. Hanging from it was a piece of Emerald, she assumed, with two pointed ends. It lay neat and flat against his tan, sweat glossed skin.

Tekari's breathing became shaky as the man stood so close she could feel his own bitter breath move down her face, making her sweat condensate, choking her pores. He laughed a little behind a closed mouth, light and dry against his throat, it was a light pitch but filled with some sort of dark humor. She imagined amusement was in his eyes and it sickened her. 

Suddenly, a hand gripped her chin, slender fingers digging into the flesh until she could almost feel the weak veins popping. She felt a tender spot on her skin that felt bruised being pressed as hee forced her face up to look into his eyes. For a moment, she was dazed by them. It was like hazel was having a war with a deep green to take over. But, it was more than just color. Something in them made her nerveous, there was a darkness around his eyelids that made them stand out more. Immediately, she knew it was him that shot that Native, and that he was the boss around here. There was no way this man would take willing orders from another of these dull pirates.

The cloth that dug into her cheeks was forcing her to smile in the face of death. 

The fact that her eyes widened when she looked at him, didn't go unnoticed. His thin lips spread wider and bared white teeth. "Buenos diaz, Anna." He drawled slowly in a light voice, but she wasn't paying attention. Her eyes were now glued to the wicked scar that went from his eyebrow and then made a road back to the center of his head, where his hair was shaved into a short mohawk, the stubble of his hair uneven and choppy. There was a thin line of red under the bump and parting flesh of the scar, showing how deep the cut was and that it wasn't going to heal anymore than that. 

How does someone even get a scar like that?

"Nice of you to join the party." He intervened in her thoughts.

Tekari knitted her brows together. He seemed to care so little about the two men she just kicked the hell out of, it was like he was oblivious. He also didn't seem like he was worried about her kicking him, he knew the intimidation his presence brought. The thought of kicking him never crossed her mind even once.

She was suddenly presented with the screen of a camera after he released his vice-like hold on her jaw. It was Jay's camera, playing a video, the one he made of all of them as they were heading to the island. Tekari's eyes flicked over the screen as it was on the part where she carelessly threw Sarah's phone into the water. The sounds of Sarah yelling 'I hate you' at the top of her lungs made the man chuckle a bit. 

He took the camera and looked down at it, smiling. "Damn, you dont take no shit, huh?" He looked at her and saw the excessive look of hatred in her ever radiantly blue eyes. "What, you don't like it here? But, yet, you were the ones stupid enough to come." He was like a parent trying to lecture their kids. He paused the video when it was filming the island in the distance, a dark, shapely blotch against the horizon. Putting the camera back in her face, he stared at her with a look of both amusement and some sort of 'I can't believe you were that dumb' type of look as he shook his head. 

It made a rage inside of Tekari begin to flare. How the hell was she supposed to know there was going to be a whole bunch of murderous pirates running around? The man at the bar must have forgotten a little detail. Unless... He knew the pirates were here. That made her heart pound vigorously and she was more than sure that that was the case. 

The man gestured about a bit, staring at the screen of the camera. "'Let's go and explore an island', huh?" He mocked. "Be crazy, get drunk and 'live.'" He let out another dry chuckle and, despite how much it sounded like a giggle, it was one of the most ominous sounds Tekari has heard. "That decision just costed you're lives."

Tekari looked down, wanting to be away from his gaze that returned to her. She clenched her eyes shut, trying to prevent the tears that threatened to run down her cheeks like a white flag of weakness. He didn't seem to notice, luckily, as he continued to talk.

"Not you two, of course... No, no, no, we have different plans for you. You two white girls seem very expensive and thats good because I like expensive things." 

Tekari shook her head a bit. One second she thought she was going to die and the next she's going to be sold. She truthfully didn't know which would be worse. 

Slowly, the man she had kicked in the ribs stood up, leaning heavily against the railing of the shack. "That bitch broke my fucking ribs!" He yelled, his voice was strained with agony. The other one had gotten up as well, cradling his jaw with blood oozing from his mouth, seeping into the crevices of his teeth and down his jaw. 

The man with the mohawk suddenly snapped his head in the direction of one of the men. "Who's fucking fault is that, huh?" His voice was raising and it made Tekari flinch and look down at the ground. The air suddenly became so tense she could almost see it join with the shimmering heat waves in the air. The two pirates became still and dead silent as they were now under the piercing gaze of the pirates eyes. 

Tekari couldn't stop the furious beating of her heart she thought had jumped out of her chest already.

"I told you to fucking check if she was awake," He started to gesture towards Tekari... with a pistol in his hand. She was flinching and tensing as it waved about in front of her. "You said she was 'almost' awake-"

"She was playing possum, man!"

The injured pirate was suddenly slammed against one of the pillars mercilessly, making the roof of the hut shake. The man with the mohawk had his hands twisted into the other pirates shirt, getting a death grip on him as he glared threateningly into his eyes. "Don't fucking interrupt me, hermano." He hissed through powerfully clenched teeth, every word seeped from him like poison that could kill at any second.

The injured pirate had a look on his face as he feared for his life, which, from hearing the scarred mans words, was most likely on the line. His eyes were wide and his hands were up a bit, shaking with every barely contained breath. 

The man with the mohawk shoved the injured one so he stumbled down the steps and onto the dirt ground. "Get the fuck out of here," He commanded, then turned to the other. "You too, disappear." He whistled and pointed in the direction of what looked like more shacks in the distance where there were even more pirates scattered about. All loaded with a gun of some sort and wearing a splash of red. It brought back the memories of the driver and that woman in horrifying flashes. 

Immediately, the two men hurried off into the distance, one clenching his rib and the other, his bleeding mouth.   
The man turned back to Tekari and she expected the rage to still be burning in his eyes, but instead, as he turned to her, he had a little smile on his face as if nothing happened. The anger in his eyes were shaded by something not short of amusement as if he was proud of his outburst. Tekari cocked an eyebrow. He just had a moodswing, a rather deadly one. 

The pirate approached a table that was to the side where the camera was and where a bunch of wallets were placed. He picked up a wallet, picking through it and pulling out an ID card. "So, what do we have here?" He spoke quickly and paced around a bit before pointing to Sarah. "Sarah aaaaaand..." He whistled as he pointed to Tekari and clicked his tongue once he was facing her direction. "Tekari... from California." 

Tekari didn't mean to catch his gaze but, once she did, she couldn't look away. He had the eyes of a predator and she knew she would make perfect prey, she was trapped and wounded. Her eyes were still fierce though, burning blue like the ocean in the hot sun. The man cocked his head to the side a bit before smiling a little and approaching, placing the camera back on the table.

She watched him like a hawk, studied him as he did the same.

He suddenly caught her off guard and ran both of his hands through her hair, pushing the loose strands out of her view. She growled a little and attempted to pull away but, the chains and his grip on the sides of her face prevented, her attempts to escape were useless while he laughed at the fact she even attempted. 

"What's wrong, Anna?" He whispered to her, eyebrows raised and pausing like he was waiting for a respond. She only closed her eyes tightly and attempted to pull away again. "You no having fun anymore, hm? Have I failed to entertain you? Oh, don't worry, chica. We will have some fun soon." 

Tekari bit down fiercely on the cloth clenched in her teeth. He only chuckled softly and went to smooth his hands in her hair again but a sudden static from his radio made him stop. Then a rather raspy and accented voice spoke; "Vaas."   
The man with the mohawk clicked his tongue a little. "Excuse me, Anna." He sighed as if he was some gentlemen, removing the radio from his belt and looking at her as he spoke into it. "Yeah." 

There was a second of static as he reached up to check the chains on her wrists were secure. "Stop scaring the hostages, I need you to take care of the rejects." 

The man with the scar smirked a little and put the radio back on his belt. "Alright, chica. I have business to attend to but, I promise we will have some fun later, and then you will be laughing and smiling like you were yesterday, okay?" He had a sly tone as if he was playing the role of someone who was generally concerned with her well being. It made her stomach churn, with anger or with worry, she couldn't really decipher. 

Once he had left, walking off into the camp of huts, Tekari looked at Sarah mournfully. Her head down and eyes clenched tightly as if she was trying to force herself to wake up from this awful dream. Tekari would have thought it was a dream as well, but the consistent pain of the chains on her wrist and the pounding in the back of her head as the memories flashed in front of her eyes was all the 'pinch me' she was going to need in order to know this was no dream or nightmare. 

Tekari didn't want to disturb her sister or make her open her eyes. It was enough to comprehend all that was happening while they were closed. 

Instead, Tekari looked around at her surroundings, the others came to mind. She had hoped they were in the veranda-type hut they were in. They weren't, and that made her panic. She started to look around for any sign that they were around but, there was nothing. It was just she and Sarah, along the pirates that seemed to swarm around everywhere. Tekari hasn't gone one second without seeing red. 

After watching some cargo trucks coming in and out of the camp, she eventually just hung her head sorrowfully. She couldn't see the others, but she wouldn't assume the worst. They had to be somewhere... 

But, there was always going to be that little voice in the back of her head and she couldn't push it away. This was real. People were dying and they were being held hostage. Quite ironic, the island seemed so peaceful and nice. It was like a movie, going to an island and being captured but, Tekari thought that those movies missed the reality part, though. No one gets out in a situation like this... do they?

Her eyes had begun to grow heavy as she lifted her head up as the fear was aching in her bones and making her heart pound. She did something she never thought she would do in her lifetime. 

She didn't pray, she begged.


	6. Determination

Tekari awoke with a bit of a jump, her eyes snapped open. The light of mid-day made her feel drowsy and she didn't know if it was the sound of one of the cargo trucks noisily passing or the blazing heat that woke her... How did she even fall asleep in the first place? She guessed she really didn't, fatigue still tore persistently at her muscles and made her eyes heavy, but that didn't stop her from being alert.

As her head throbbed wickedly, she thought the constant noise of cicadas were her ears ringing for a moment. She had almost forgotten where she was again, until the sound of rapid gunfire hit her like a button and she quickly lifted her head up, looking into the little makeshift town. Pirates were still everywhere, nothing but blurs of red as her eyes began to adjust to the light. 

She grunted a little when she realized just how unpleasantly dry her mouth and throat were. Also, how her muscles tightened to the point of pain and through her blurry eyes, she saw a figure of red approaching them. Another shot of gunfire and the world before her suddenly cleared as if trying to come at her full force with the realism of her situation. It was the pirate with the scar again... he was holding a pistol with a shit eating grin on his face. 

"Buenos Diaz!" He barked carelessly, his spanish accent washing cleanly over the unfamiliar words. He passed his amused glare over the two captives. Sarah was clenching her eyes tight, as if she attempted to go back to the little bit of peaceful sleep she was getting. Already, they were being harassed by the pirate. "Sleep good?" His heavy, thudding boots carried him so he was standing right in front of Tekari again, towering over her slouching form. She stared ruefully at her feet, her mind screamed 'go away'. 

He let out an airy laugh at how pitiful she looked. He loved it when they looked so miserable. 

He didn't grab at her again, which she appreciated because her jaw hurt on its own due to the cloth that still pulled her cheeks back but, she didn't appreciate the fact he bent down a little in order to be at eye level with her, placing his hands on his knees, letting out a hum as if he studied something that just puzzled him completely. Suddenly, his fingers were digging into her jaw and nestled into a particularly painful spot, making her growl and whimper. He only smirked and purposely buried his thumb into her purple flesh before letting go. "Those fuckers hit you hard, huh?" His voice made him appear like he was concerned, but his lying smile snuck out and made him bare his white teeth. "We're gonna have our fun today, Anna. Just like I said, no?" 

The 'pirate boss' stood back straight again when another pirate was jogging towards them. "Vaas," He hollered as he skipped up the steps. 

Vaas... she thought. His name is Vaas. 

This pirate looked different from the others, the only red on him was a bandanna around his neck, unlike the others who had various red articles of clothing on them. But, what really made him different is that he looked well groomed, like he took care of his appearance. His hair was spiked up, like he did it purposely with gel and his clothes were clean besides some grass stains. He also wore a pair of Converse shoes, which were clean just like the rest of his attire and quite a rare sight here. He fixed a golden rolex at his wrist, a tan flannel shirt had a holster across his chest where there was a pistol tucked beneath his arm. Of course, no one went unarmed here. 

"What, Hermano?" Vaas dragged his gaze away from Tekari, heaving out a sigh as if he was annoyed that he was stopped from harassing the captives, her especially. 

"We got the trucks ready," The groomed pirate gestured to some cargo trucks down the dirt road. "We're ready to take them to holding."

Vaas nodded, all signs of irritation were gone. "Good," He started to mess with the chains on Tekari's wrists. "Get the other one." 

There was a sudden relief of pressure as Tekari's arms dropped to her hips, still tied together with rope. She didn't realize how much her arms hurt until they were down and a numbing pain shot through her, the blood started rushing back to her limbs in an uncomfortable tingling sensation. Her legs were sore as well, as she had to force them to work and support her weight. Suddenly, her legs were swept out from under her and she was falling backwards, like she had slipped on ice. She shrieked behind the cloth, clenching her eyes shut and bracing herself. 

After her body never even touched the creaking floorboards, she opened her eyes to see Vaas was carrying her. He struggled very little with her tense weight, sporting a small grin. "I bet your 'big-man' boyfriend couldn't carry you like this, huh?" He teased and she turned her head away, struggling and growling furiously. A myriad amount of curse words would have escaped her, if it weren't for the cloth around her cheeks and for the fact she was scared shitless of him. After the pirate lord held onto her effortlessly, she just gave up her struggling. 

Sarah's squeals suddenly hit Tekari's ears and she looked over Vaas' shoulder to see she was being dragged along reluctantly, the other pirate had a hand clenched around her arm, practically dragging her along. The groomed pirate suddenly pulled out his pistol and pressed it to the back of her neck. She suddenly froze and whimpered, tears escaping down her cheeks. Tekari met her eyes and mentally told her little sister to move and listen and she did, struggling to walk on her weakened legs as the gun still pressed against her neck. "Good girl." The pirate praised as if she a puppy.

Tekari grumbled low and glared at the pirate, who looked at her and only smiled a white toothed grin as he continued pointing a gun at her sisters neck. Sarah obeyed, much to Tekari's liking, the last thing she wanted was for her to get harmed... If Sarah got hurt Tekari would be next, because she wouldn't hesitate to wreck some havoc. Not that she didn't want to already.

Tekari and Sarah were guided out to the road and under the heat of the searing sun again and they had to squint in order to see. Not a single cloud was in the sky today, offering no hope for relief of the burning rays. It touched Tekari's unprotected shoulders, adding layers to the skin that was already burned. 

That was the least of her problems, though.

Down the road a shack door burst open and three people, tied up like they were, were shoved out by three pirates. Tekari's heart stopped. It was the others; Aaron, Jay and Lance. They were dotted with angry looking bruises and some small cuts. 

The boys very quickly spotted Sarah and Tekari and started growling what she assumed what would be yells, if their mouths weren't taped shut. Lance started to walk over to them as if making to attack, but he couldn't do much as his hands were tied. One of the pirates that were guiding them outside grabbed his arm and shoved him to the ground, kicking up clouds of dirt and dust. "Get down!" He hollered before gearing up a rough kick to his side that made him groan and whimper with agony.

Tekari had to close her eyes as her brother whined and struggled for breath as he tried to get up. She could't watch her brother get beat up like that with no chance of defending himself. It was unfair and all she wanted to do was help him. 

She felt so fucking defenseless and she hated it.

Vaas adjusted his hold on her before releasing an irritated breath that was disguised as a light chuckle. "Your brothers as fucking energetic as you are, Anna." He shook his head a little after not receiving a response from her and pretended he was going to drop her. She yelped with fear and the pirate lord started to chuckle. "Saved your life, chica." He pulled her closer to his shoulder . "You can pay me back later, yeah?" 

His breath ghosted over her burnt skin and Tekari would have shook her head but, figured she didn't have any say in the matter. She looked back over the pirate's tan shoulder, everyone was being pushed along by a line of pirates with guns. Jay's eye was swollen and was looking ruefully at Tekari before looking away at the ground like Lance and Aaron, their eyes were laced with shame as their shoulders were slumped. Sarah was glancing around frantically and Tekari hoped that she wasn't going to try and do anything stupid. All they could do now was just go along with it.

Of course, the thought of escaping was in the back of Tekari's mind, as she was sure it was going to be. She figured it was in the others, as well but, they were all just sore muscles and bruises right now. Weakened and vulnerable but, Tekari held onto the hope of escaping. She had to for the others.

Tekari was placed onto the edge of the cargo truck while Vaas hopped in and picked her up again. He sat down at the spot Tekari had sat, when they were first attacked by the pirates and it brought back some unpleasant memories. The loud gun and the blur of the crash.

Casually, the pirate placed her on his lap as if she belonged there, or wanted to be there and smiled smugly at the glare she tossed him but, then looked away as the other pirates and prisoners climbed in. Sarah sat across from her along with the pirate with the bandanna. 

She was looking down at the ground, her makeup was still running like rivers down her cheeks, a sharp contrast to pale skin. Tekari imagined her's was doing the same, showing their misery. She still had moments where she hoped that this was all just a horrific nightmare and she was going to wake up at home but her constant sore muscles and the sound of persistent gunfire continued to keep her here. 

Once again, the cargo truck circulated the heat like a furnace and the fact that the pirate refused to put her down made it even worse. She was annoyingly close to his face and whenever he looked at her, she could smell his breath. It reeked of alcohal and his clothes smelled of... pot. Tekari knew the scent quite well and he seemed pretty familiar with the substance. The scent was rather fresh, too, as if it was laced into very fiber of his clothes. 

The truck had began to move after Vaas barked something in Spanish and held her in place with a hand around her waist and another on her thigh making her growl lowly with frustration and fear. She would have tried to pull away, but frankly there was no where to go. The cargo truck was rather crowded with pirates wielding guns and she didn't have the muscle to fight them, especially this one. She's already seen how he could go from calm to raging within blink of an eye and it didn't take much to set him off and she was sure his mood swings would be any less fierce, even if he was high.

But, when she tried to adjust herself only a bit, it resulted in him quickly pulling her closer, if that was even possible. "Ah, ah, ah." He drawled and set his chin on her shoulder, his short beard scratching her skin, and smiled. "No escape, chica." 

Tekari bit down on the cloth and the urge to prove him wrong was intensifying as she stared off into the back of the open truck, watching the shacks start to disappear one by one as they got farther away. She refused to meet the eyes of the psychotic pirate, which she knew were on her. He was a predator constantly staring at his prey, waiting to strike when she was most vulnerable. "Ir más rápido, hermano!" He suddenly yelled and it went straight into Tekari's ears, making her sigh with irritation as her throbbing headache returned. The truck picked up speed, the air ventilated throughout the back and the heat and the scent of the pirate was washed away. 

Tekari was trying to think, which was a complicated task due to the fact the ride was filled with uncomfortable bumps and the pirate that held her. He said something to the man with the bandanna around his neck and started to laugh, Tekari felt his glare again along with the creeping smile, shaded with amusement. He suddenly grabbed her chin as he mumbled something beneath his breath and turned her face this way and that. She saw a certain blank look on his face as if he was studying merchandise, his eyes half lidded and lips now tugged into a frown.

His hands were rough, calloused and they held an almost iron grip on the bruised flesh of her jaw. He had small bandages wrapped around the last links of his fingers and they felt dry and scratchy, along with the one that was wrapped around his hand. He ran his hand through her hair again, pulling a bit at the knots, making the roots of her black mane tingle with pain. He once again, said something to the pirate with the bandanna. 

"Tekari, was it?" He brought her eyes to look at him. There was a certain intensity in them that made her feel threatened, even though they were half lidded and looking rather calm. She's never met a crazy person before, but this man, was definitely crazy and it didn't take an idiot to figure that out. There was just something in his hazel-green eyes, like they would eat her whole and spit her out. 

After he had studied her a little while longer, the whole time she glared into his eyes. She knew she shouldn't show fear now, she had to show him she wasn't weak. Suddenly, he grinned as if she just told a joke. "I like you, chica." He told her through little chuckles. "You have determination." 

Tekari only jerked her head away from his loosened grip and avoided his gaze, as if meeting with it for too long left her fatigued. She didn't know what she was feeling at the moment behind the dark of her eyes, anger and fear were present but, she couldn't tell what the other emotion in her was. It was swirling around and whenever she looked at Sarah, it got more active. Motivation, maybe? Or perhaps even the determination, like the pirate lord had pointed out. Motivation for what? She was stuck here, weak and surrounded by high and bloodthirsty pirates with guns. There was no way out.

But, the thought of being trapped only fueled that fire in her.


	7. Escape

"All things truly wicked start from innocence." -Ernest Hemingway   
~~~~~~~~~

They were still traveling on the dirt packed trail, filled with bumps and ridges, which became increasingly uncomfortable since the pirate cradling Tekari like precious cargo had to hold her closer in order to keep her steady. She mentally screamed, scolded and cursed but, there wasn't much she could do besides sit still and hope it would end soon.

Eventually, they came to a skidding stop and when they did, Tekari was actually happy about it. The constant body heat coming from the pirate, not to mention the scent of pot, was beginning to make her dizzy and not in a good way. 

Outside of the truck, she could hear people screaming and laughing... She figured that's how you could distinguish the pirates from the hostages. Tekari looked at Sarah, she had her eyes closed and appeared to be asleep, only to have the pirate with the bandanna grab her by the arm mercilessly and lift her up. Her eyes shot open and she struggled to gain her footing but she managed as she was thrown onto the sand, barely catching herself from falling flat on her face.

The minute everyone else was unloaded from the truck, Tekari was lifted up again and the scarred pirate grunted out a sigh. He wasn't at all gentle, muscled hands buried into her burnt, bruised flesh and when he jumped down from the back of the truck, he didn't hesitate to make her feel like she was going to be dropped again. She closed her eyes tightly, bracing herself, thinking he was actually going to drop her this time but, he lifted her up like he was lifting a bag of sand. The moment she was hauled out of the canvas roof of the truck, Tekari could feel the burn of the huge blazing sun again, and the air was humming and shimmering with heat. A pirate shot a gun pretty much right next to her at some cans, causing her wince with fear and accidentally lean into the short-tempered pirate.

"Shut up, hermana." He hissed, trying to hold in that smug grin, actually achieving it this time. Or maybe there was no smugness grin at all, she really couldn't tell. "It's just a fucking gun."

Tekari immediately silenced herself with a few whines of protest, just a gun? That gun can kill someone with a single bullet, she would think at this point it would be okay to fear the loud bang of a gun. Then again, she could be ominously unafraid of them since she's heard them enough. 

Vaas grumbled a little when another pirate approached, as if unpleased with his presence. This pirate had dark messy hair and tan skin, much like everyone else but, since he was approaching with hardly any fear in his deep brown eyes, Tekari figured he was a 'friend' of of the pirate lord. If he could even have friends... 

"Hey, boss." He stated casually, like it was another average day in the office, as he fixed a buckle to the thick vest he was wearing. Vaas greeted back with only a nod, keeping his half-lidded eyes on the path ahead. He was moving through sun bleached sand, hardly struggling with Tekari's weight and suddenly appearing like he was bored out of his mind. 

The pirate with the vest trailed them as they walked through the sand and to a cave, where it was darker and cooler. He was just like the other pirates, but with a higher authority over the others, since Vaas was paying some mind to him, speaking to him in Spanish at the moment but, he had that arising tone of irritation that Tekari thought could never really leave him.

She was just thankful the pirate boss wasn't focusing on her anymore. She looked over his tan shoulder and was glad the others were being towed through the sand as well, that meant they mot likely weren't going to be separated again. Guns still held to their backs, though, a pressuring them to move. 

Suddenly, the pirate carrying her sort of held her out a little as if to show her off to the other. "I got the tourists." He smiled a little bit too coyly for her liking. The other man mirrored his grin. 

"I see that." The other pirate chuckled and Teakari knew his eyes were washing over her, just by how he spoke his words, his tone was sly. "You must like that one, you're carrying her." 

The Pirate Lord nodded a bit too quickly. 

The two started to speak Spanish and that was for the better, Tekari couldn't understand anything they were saying and something told her she didn't want to. She distracted herself by looking over the man's shoulder again, Sarah was actually being carried now but, in a more careless manor, thrown over the shoulder of one of the pirates, which Tekari could only imagine was digging into her stomach. At least she wasn't being held at gunpoint anymore, like the guys. 

God, that scared her to no end... Even more so when she caught gazes with Jay. They held rebellion within them and it reminded her of the the time when he got arrested for that bar fight back home except this was a bit worse, obviously, and thats why his expression unsettled her even more. It was that expression that made him look just straight up pissed and violent... It vaguely reminded her of the darkness Vaas had in his eyes when he yelled at that pirate she had kicked.

No... Jay's darkness was a light compared to the Pirate Lord's. 

Tekari looked back ahead when she noticed the sun turning into shade as they entered the cave and she was being hauled down some steps like a heavy box. The pirates boots thudded heavily on the metal stairs, echoing off the stone walls. 

Inside, the cave was a wide opening where they went down some more steps and at the bottom was a table where three more pirates sat. They seemed to be measuring some white packages on a scale, smiling and laughing, until Vaas walked in. Then, they eyed the tourists carefully with a look that wasn't far from disgust, before losing interest and continuing with what they were doing. 

Vaas carried Tekari down a darkened hall and the pirate with the bandanna around his neck took out a ring of keys, jingling them a bit... something about the way he did that, it screamed imprisonment and it made her feel hollow. A tightening rage in her throat and she didn't know if it was anger or if she wanted to just cry. Neither would be a good emotion to let loose. Anger would only make her do something stupid and crying would make her look weak... she didn't want to look weak, not in front of these men... she would be made an easier target. Well, she supposed she didn't look very tough all tied up. 

They arrived to another large opening, but the sides of the room were lined with empty cages. One of the pirates opened the door to one of the cages for Vaas to put her in it, the bars of the cage was like a prison. He gently knelt down and placed her on the chilled steel flooring of the rusted cage, which seemed to bite at her skin with the cold. It soothed her sunburns but only for a second. 

"All right, Princesa." Vaas grunted as he crouched down next to her. His calloused hand found her cheek and he laughed at her failed attempt to escape it. "I'm not going to take the ransom videos tonight, we got new speakers but they aren't set up yet and I plan on using them." He continued to speak, but Tekari was too focused, observing the others being put into other cages. They were quickly locked in by the pirate with the keys, her sisters eyes were closed and she seemed to have gone limp... she was still breathing, her chest rising and falling slowly. Tekari was thankful her sister was able to find the peace to sleep but, she felt like Sarah was knocked out rather than sleeping. Either that, or just too tired to keep her eyes open.

The guys were placed into a cage together, staring hatefully but still being compliant. Of course, Jay still held that look in his eyes, but one of his eyes were swollen shut. A streak of red and black bruises beneath his skin went from his eye socket to his temple. It looked fairly fresh... He must have been resisting.

He was lucky he only got hit. 

Kari brought her attention back to the Pirate lord. He had a smile on his face and was still talking. "So, you'll wanna come and party with us, no?" His eyes flicked over her body. 

She blinked her blue orbs and knit her eyebrows together, unable to respond and with that, Vaas stood up with a smile as if she gave an answer and he was satisfied with it. Stepping out of the cage, the pirate with the keys and bandanna closed and locked the door. 

Vaas waved and blew a kiss in her direction. "I'll be back, Anna." He started to leave, adjusting the strap across his chest.

As he started to walk away, Tekari could feel the same hatred that Jay had burn in her eyes. It was like she being arrested again. But, unlike Jay whom had stupidity in his, fear hid in the shell of the hate Tekari felt. Jay could look him in the eyes, she could only stare at his back. Mostly its because she was too timid to meet his eyes. She has once and didn't want to do so twice, afraid they were going to swallow her up and toss her around in his own little world of oblivious insanity. 

"Vaas," A pirate appeared before said man had left her line of sight around the corner. "Am I watching them?" It was the man with the vest that followed them in here.

Vaas stared at him like that was the stupidest question to have ever have been asked. The one with the keys laughed a little out of disbelief and pinched the skin between his eyes, shaking his head slightly. 

"What the fuck else are you good for, hermano?" Vaas barked. The anger in his voice was like bubbling water slowly beginning to seethe as he glared at his colleague. 

The pirate started to stutter over his words nervously, unsure if that was a rhetorical question or not. "Well, I uh-" 

"You're watching them." Vaas finished for him and stared at the man, allowing the statement to settle in before starting to walk away, mumbling something under his breath with the shake of a head. "Feed the chicas, okay?"

The pirate with the vest was left behind to watch. He was young looking, a t-shirt beneath the vest and a pair of jeans, a pistol was strapped to his belt. He looked all the tourists over before scoffing; "Worthless." and turning around and leaving. 

Tekari groaned a bit, fighting her sore muscles to try and sit up or at least get into a sitting position. She couldn't, with her hands tied behind her back and trying to not make any noise whatsoever.

So, she just sat curled up on her side, looking around. There was a table in the corner with more of those white packages. A generator was in the another corner, making a low hum and providing energy for the dangling light bulbs that flickered on occasion. Water dripped from the ceiling into some puddles alongside the wall. 

There was a combination lock on all cages, Tekari had observed. It would be hard to break those without the keys... Which had been taken with the pirate with the bandanna. Tekari calculated her options, even when she knew there weren't any. She even tried to push through her sore muscles to try and wiggle around in the cloth that held her wrist tight together. The bone would pass over the other one with a good amount of pain and the cloth was too tight... she was sure there was no way to break it without a knife. 

As she was struggling, the pirate with the vest returned with two bowls. He strutted over to her cage and placed the bowls down, reached through the bars and grabbed Tekari's arm roughly and the fact her hands were tied behind her back made even more discomfort in her shoulder, which cracked a little as he pulled more and more. He ripped a large hunting knife from a holster at his side. It was large and rusted and he roughly brought it to her wrist where he tore through the cloth, cutting the flesh of her palm in the process. She hissed out and growled with pain but he seemed unable to care less as he simply grabbed her by the cloth on her cheeks. He cut that too, once again, slicing tender flesh. 

The pressure in her teeth was released and she opened her jaw wide to try and relieve the pain, only to make it hurt more, it felt like the muscles in her jaw were tightening up and when he gripped her bleeding hand, the crimson trickled through her fingers and dripped onto the steel floor of the cage. She couldn't speak, due to her pained jaw, so she settled with staring at the pirate harshly as he shoved the bowl through the bars of the cage. It was filled with rice that looked as parched as she was, but cooked. 

The pirate scoffed heavily and stood up, wandering over to Sarah's cage and releasing her from her bonds in the same careless manner he had to Tekari. When Sarah let out a little shriek, her instinct kicked in. "Easy, motherfucker!" She screamed and kicked the bar of the cage, making it rattle loudly. 

The man jumped and kicked her cage back, twice as hard. "Shut up, bitch!" He yelled, then growled lowly as he passed the bowl of rice through the bars to her sister and walking back to his post at the exit of the area they were being held at.

Tekari coughed a little and looked at Sarah. She didn't seem too fazed, her skin wasn't cut as bad either but, Tekari felt warm blood ooze down her cheek. She swiped her good hand over it and it wasn't as bad as she thought. Her other hand, though, had a large cut across the palm and it was bleeding quite profusely. Every time she kept her hand still, the blood stopped and collected in the seam of the cut. It didn't hurt too bad, only when the blade actually cut the skin, did it hurt. Now it was only numb but, at least she was free now. 

Sarah was eating the grainy rice and Tekari could hear a light crunching. So, it wasn't as cooked as it had appeared.. but, thats not why she didn't touch the given food. Instead, she took the bowl and handed it through the bars of her cage, into Sarah's. 

"Here..." She whispered weakly, voice cracking as it went past her dry lips.

Sarah stopped eating and looked at her quizzically. "No," she protested. "You need to eat, too." 

"You need it. I'll be fine." 

Sarah opened her mouth again, but saw the look of seriousness in her sisters deep blue eyes. So, she nodded and took it. Slowly, the younger sibling ate. The guys watched ruefully, perhaps even jealously and Tekari rubbed her sore wrist. She was able to stop the bleeding by putting her hand on her leg and applying pressure. It left a big bloodied hand print on her leg, but at least the bleeding stopped. 

With her hands now freed, she thought of all the options she had to figure out a possible escape. She didn't know how much time she had until Vaas came back to get her. She didn't want to know what would happen to her or the others after that. 

No options again. 

The lock on her cage was too strong and she couldn't really do anything with the pirate that was just around the corner or the fact her hand was numb now and it would crack the dried blood and start bleeding again if she flexed her fingers. Frustrated and sorrowful, she slide over and sat in the corner of the cage and pulled her legs up to her chest, folding her arms over her knees and laying her head down quietly with a dry sigh. It was cold in this cave and her lack of clothing made her shiver. Goosebumps raised on her pale, bruised skin.

She closed her eyes and listened to the low humming of the generator. She thought and thought. There was no way out, but that little flame in her still wouldn't dwindle... It stayed and began to frustrate her. Maybe she was stubborn, internally. 

She didn't want her sister to have to sit here, through all of this. Her sister didn't deserve to be here. She was happy and joyful, and seeing her like this, broken and afraid, it made Tekari's insides churn. With her head lying in the cradle of her arms now and everything still, the fatigue from the little amount of sleep she's been getting took over.  
~~~~~~~~~

Tekari opened her bloodshot eyes. As she blinked away the grogginess that attacked her while she was down, she discovered she'd fallen asleep and scolded herself when she came to meet that realization. Once again, she wondered where she was as if her mind was elsewhere while her body stayed here... The nostalgic popping of guns brought her back. This time it was accompanied by a low bass repetitively pounding in the distance in a steady rhythm. Tekari knew that sound quite well. She looked around and saw the others were sound asleep, the shadows of on of the swaying, flickering lightbulb made them look like they had pained expressions. They more than likely did, even though they seemed to be sleeping soundly, perhaps dreaming of home or at least any place but here.

That Pirate that was told to watch them was still there, walking around and kicking some gravel on the bare cave floor. Poor guy must have been bored out of his mind... Tekari glared at the pirate then looked at her hand. It was covered in dry blood and rather sore now. 

She looked back at the pirate when she saw something and the wheels in her head started to turn as if they were taking advantage of the sleep she got, like it was fuel.

He had a climbers pick axe strapped to his leg. 

The pirate coughed a little and in a sort of adrenaline rush that was now gripping her, Tekari crawled to the center of the cage, eyes wide and scared.

She inhaled a deep breath... hoping this would work.

"Hey!" She yelled, her voice breaking and making her sound more desperate to get his attention. "Hey, I need your help!" 

The pirate turned around quickly as if he was in danger and then shrugged his shoulders. "What?" He scolded, walking slowly over to her, his caution with approaching her made her nervous. 

"My hand..." She gestured, crawling to the edge of the cage. "I cant move my fingers." 

The pirate sighed and knelt down. "Vaas will be here, soon. He'll-" 

Tekari quickly lunged forwards and grabbed the shoulder of his vest. To add insult to injury, she grabbed him with her bad hand and slammed him back on the bars.

Gripping the bars with her other hand to steady herself, she shoved him back so she could get the full force when she pulled him forwards viciously, ramming him back into the cage. She repeated this over and over again, her teeth clenched and the prison around her rattling, until the man's nose was a bleeding mess and he was out. She was in such a rush, she was almost blinded... Even though she saw everything that just happened. When the pirate limply flopped about, only then did the adrenaline let her mind take back control of her body and let her realize what she had just done.

Her breathing was heavy and short when she looked over at the others, who were looking at her like she was crazy, wide eyed and quite fully awake now. She might have been crazy, knocking out the pirate could have been a really bad mistake. Especially if her idea didn't work but, for a second, it seemed like a great idea and that second was enough to convince her.

She pulled the man closer to the cage and dug her hands into his pockets only to find a crumpled pack of cigarettes and what looked like a joint. Nothing that was 'key-related'. She sighed, trying to get the air moving to her shaking hands and quickened heart with deep breaths. She grabbed the knife that was on his belt. It was a rusted hunting knife and the handle of it was badly crafted from wood.

Then she saw the whole reason she knocked him out in the first place... The climbers axe strapped to his thigh. She quickly grabbed it and looked at the lock as her plan came to her. It was a rusted combo-lock and she felt relieved, it looked rather fragile. Getting up, she placed the pick of the axe through the arch of the lock, exhaling a labored puff of air and pulled back with all the force her pain filled muscles would allow, her bones felt like they would snap at any second. She pushed through the pain, nausea and tight muscles when suddenly, the pressure gave way. She fell back, slamming her head on the cage, causing the cave around her to spin, much like the world did when they were first abducted. She shook her head and heard the 'clank' of metal on rock and saw the door slowly creaking open, where she was applying the pressure on the bars was bent a little. The axe was on the ground, broken, just like the lock. 

It felt like a banner of freedom was in front of her but, she wasn't out of the woods yet. The others were still in cages but, that didn't stop her from having to hold in the almost psychotic laughter that wanted to rack her lungs.

After the spinning had subsided, she quickly brought her attention to Sarah, who whimpered Tekari's name in both fear and disbelief. Tekari hushed her, crouching next to her cage and reaching through the bars that separated them and hugged her sister like they haven't seen each other in forever. 

"Kari..." Sarah sobbed through her shaky breaths, burying her face in Tekari's shoulder through the bars, grasping at her desperately. Tears collected on her skin and ran down her shoulders.

Tekari hugged back and hushed her, then went to the lock on her sisters cage hurridly, muttering words of assurance to the crying sibling. The lock looked newer and stronger than what hers was and the axe was broken... There was no way she could get her out. 

She looked down as the thought of what she had to do next came into her mind. A pit in her stomach a thousand times worse than a typical type of nervousness and fear rested.

"I wont be able to get you out..." Tekari rasped, feeling her lungs flutter uncomfortably as she was trying to breath. "I-I have to go get the keys..."

Sarah's eyes widened and she shook her head hurriedly, Lance and the others were doing the same. "No, no... You-" Sarah begged and tripped over her words.

"Shhh, stop." Tekari hunched down alongside her sister, grabbing her shoulders firmly, but gently. "I can... I just need you to stay quiet until I get back. I'll have the keys and we'll get out, okay?" 

Much easier said than done. Hell, even saying it wasn't easy. 

The younger sibling nodded reluctantly, a fear was in her wide blue eyes. Tekari felt the pounding of her doubt bouncing around in her skull. Of course, all she could picture were the things that could go wrong... images of the pirate, Vaas, holding her at gun point, flashed in her mind. Either that, or failing to get them out in general and winding up back where she started.

But, she couldn't think like that, she had to think about her family getting out. Her thoughts went to the gun on the limp pirate's belt and she quickly went to retrieve it from him. She thought of just shooting the lock but, that might attract some unnecessary attention. She couldn't afford that, she came this far but, only to have so much more ahead of her

This was for them. Her family... she had to get them out of this hell. She felt this was her only chance, Vaas would come back for her at some point, if he was true to his word which she knew he was. Time has never been so against her. There was no plan... only a goal. 

Tekari sighed slowly and placed the gun behind her, cold against her skin and held close by her black belt. She casted a glance to the guys... they stared at her with horror and shook their heads. Kari didn't bother to remove them of their ropes... she thought it was for the better that they were like that. She gave them one last reassuring look, which made her feel better as well, then just looked down towards the darkened cave. Constantly, she had to replay images of getting out or images of what it was like before they got here... her sisters smiling face was the only motivation. She was too young for a life like this. 

One more breath and another step. 

She crouched down low as she headed down the hallway and back to the entrance of the cave, where they were carried in from. She focused on any noises and staying down low and soon she heard faint laughter coming from ahead, she was lucky she decided to not shoot that lock. 

Tekari used the shadows to only comfort her but, she knew she was never truly safe. A block of light was on the ground, cutting into the darkness around a corner. She peered around the side to see there were 3 men sitting at that table where she'd seen those pirates measuring small packages when they first got here. Slowly and as soundlessly as possible, she shuffled around the corner and ducked behind a large palette that had tall stacks of white packages. She could only imagine what was in them, even though she knew very well what they were.

Slowly peering over the top of the crate to look, very well aware that she could potentially be seen at any time, she saw a hanging lightbulb over a table which was littered with poker chips, broken glass, beer bottles and some more of those small white packages along with some crumpled up cash, loosely thrown around in front of them. 

Kari studied the area more before she spotted the exit. It was up some stairs... but, as far as she could see, there wasn't anything or anyway to get past the men and they didn't look like they were moving anytime soon. They were talking and discussing their poker game. 

Tekari cursed silently, clenching her teeth as if she wanted them to crack. She had hoped to keep moving so that she wouldn't be able to concentrate on how scared she was and how furiously her heart was beating. She guessed she could take it as a good sign that she wasn't dead, yet.

A while passed... or maybe a few minutes that felt like they took forever. Kari sat there, now contemplating on wether or not she should just... shoot them. She's only handled a gun a few times... but, not at people and she can't say she quite liked the idea. It made her wonder how these men could so easily pull the trigger with no remorse, no second thought.

One of the men stood up and made a yell of joy but it sounded like he just discovered the meaning of his life. Tekari covered her mouth and shot back behind the palette, she thought she was spotted until the man was saying some stuff in Spanish and his hysterical laughter was accompanied by the sound of poker ships sliding across the surface of the table. She chanced a peek over the top of the crate and saw that the men at the table all had drunken smiles on their faces. 

Tekari closed her eyes and exhaled heavily with relief. 

"Another great night, man." The winning pirate sighed.

"For you, asshole." another one spit.

"Oh, shut the fuck up and hand over your watch." 

It was silent for a moment and the air felt like it got rather tense as one pirate removed a gold watch from his wrist and just tossed it onto the table. 

"Muy bueno..." The winner drawled before he snatched the watch into his grasp, looking it over and putting it back down.

The other just scoffed and said; "New game." before another pirate came in from the entrance atop the stairs.

He was sporting a large smile on his face. "Hey!" He yelled in an accented voice from the balcony above the table. "It's time for you to switch stations!"

The trio at the table groaned irritably and started to get up, collecting their things. She saw the pirate that forked over the watch gladly take it back as the other wasn't looking. 

"Alright." One of them grunted heavily, taking a drink from a beer bottle. "Where do we go?" 

"To the docks but, Vaas is drunk stupid... I think you could get away with going to the party instead." He chuckled. "Thats what we did." 

Each pirate at the table looked at one another, a little doubtful but, they enjoyed the idea. Like Tekari had experienced when she attacked the pirate back there, it only takes that one second to make your choice and a minute to think of consequences, but they didn't take the time to think of the consequences. She didn't either. So, they all nodded and started to leave, stomping excitedly up the steps.

One by one as each pirate started to exit the cave, Tekari could feel that hope coming back. Only slightly, but it was relieving more than anything. Once she was sure they were gone for good, she slowly snuck her way around the table, seeing various drugs placed messily around the table. Tekari suspected they didnt have to worry about being caught with the drugs... there was no one to stop them.

When she made it to the steps, she noted that they were a bit creaky and her heart would jump with every crack. Once she got to the cave mouth, she was able to look out, luckily there weren't any pirates nearby. 

The bass was heavier now, as was the hooting and cheering of the pirates in the distance. They were in a large clearing surrounding a huge building made of solid concrete and corrugated roofing. There was a bunch of them... too many. Not including the ones that were scattered among and within the shacks that were dotted along a little inlet of water. The whole area was surrounded by fences and large hills and the jungle was even more dense, it surrounded the area like a shield and it was pouring rain now, the droplets slapping onto the wet sand mercilessly, leaving little craters. 

As Tekari looked around the large camp, she couldn't decide where to begin looking for the pirate with the keys and there was always the doubt that the pirate was even here, or even had the keys to begin with... but, you have to start somewhere even if you don't know it'll work. The woman looked around, the coast was clear for her to move behind a nearby shack, using the darkness and the curtain of rain as an ally to hide her. She moved quickly and silently despite the fact she was sure no one could hear her over the music or the storm. The clouds over the moon made everything darker and the only lights were that of the ones used by the pirates which where flashing and changing various colors from a cooling green and blue to a hot yellow, orange and red. She brought her eyes away from the lights and began to maneuver around the line of shacks. 

All she could do was hope, while her mind screamed doubt.

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first fanfiction i've ever published, but I do have this story written on another site ;)
> 
> Kudos and commments are always welcome. Enjoy~


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